Florida’s western Panhandle is still recovering four days after Hurricane Isaias swept through the area as a Category 2 storm.
Nearly 54,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity Tuesday afternoon and state and local emergency personnel were still working to clear smaller local roads and remove debris from residential areas.
About 450,000 residences and businesses were without power after the initial surge from Isaias, and 16,000 linemen have helped to reconnect them. Most of the remaining customers without power are in Escambia (23,380) and Santa Rosa (24,240) counties.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said that while some areas hardest hit by Isaias, including in Santa Rosa County, aren’t able to safely receive power, all areas able to be reconnected to the grid should be done by the end of the day.
“The utilities tell us there’s some that are just going to come back on as they work through today. Some of the (local electric utility cooperatives) have some more loose ends, they’re going to get those tidied up,” DeSantis told reporters in the town of Vernon in Washington County. “They feel very good about finishing up the last remaining of people who can receive power during the balance of today and then beyond that it’s going to be really a question of any repairs that need to be done.”
Isaias led to the deaths of six people in Florida, DeSantis confirmed. He explained that while two deaths were a direct result of Isaias, the others were part of the later effects and recovery efforts from the storm, including a car accident, one fatality related to improper use of a generator and two who died as a result of disruptions to medical treatment.
“They kind of link anything that’s even a fallout from the storm,” DeSantis said, explaining how the death toll is calculated. “Those other four are a little bit more post-storm, attenuated from the storm.”
“People did take precautions and I think the local officials did an excellent job spreading the word,” DeSantis added.
At the same press conference, DeSantis announced $27 million in grants for rural areas, including those in Isaias’ path.
Some of the largest awards included $2.6m for Washington County, including $300k for the study for the sports and entertainment complex, $2.5 for a primary care clinic in Calhoun County for a primary care clinic; another $1 million for a commercial hangar at the airport in Calhoun; $3 million for the design and construction of 7 miles of wastewater transmission lines in Gulf County; and $2 million for an access road in Jackson County.
